Citation

Duff K, Mold JW, Roberts MM. Aging Neuropsychol. Cogn. 2007; 1-9.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/13825580701531904

PMID

17882601

Abstract

Executive functioning and processing speed have been related to physical functioning in non-demented, elderly samples; however, the relationship between walking speed and global cognition has not been examined. Six hundred and seventy-five community dwelling older adults were enrolled through their primary care physicians. Walking speed was assessed on a 50-foot course at usual pace. Global cognition was assessed with the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) Total Scale score. After adjusting for age, gender, and education, there was a strong inverse relationship between walking speed and global cognition, with slower walkers performing worse on the cognitive measures, faster walkers performing better on the cognitive measures, and the intermediate walkers performing in the middle. In these older adults, global cognition was related to walking speed.

Language: en